Napoli - Hellas Verona FC predictions and free betting tips [04/02/2024]

Today as part of the 23rd round of the Italian Serie A, Napoli will host Verona on their home ground. Having won only one victory in the last five championship matches, the current Scudetto holders risk dropping into the lower half of the table, while Verona is battling for survival.

Predicted Lineups

Napoli: Gollini; Di Lorenzo, Rahmani, Jesus, Rui; Anguissa, Lobotka, Kahuste; Politano, Simeone, Kvaratskhelia. Verona: Montipo; Centonze, Davidovich, Magnani, Vinagre; Duda, Serdar; Suslov, Folorunsho, Lazovic; Noslin.

Napoli

Having won the Scudetto for the first time since 1990 last season, Napoli has evidently reconciled with a severely disappointing campaign to defend their title. Walter Mazzarri's team has plummeted down the league table and currently occupies only ninth position in the overall Serie A standings. Despite that, the hosts still have a chance to enter the Champions League (they are just 4 points behind the fourth place); to achieve that, the Southerners need to start winning as soon as possible. In their last five games, the Sky blues gained three points only from struggling Salernitana (2-1), drew twice, and lost twice. Last weekend they signed a peaceful agreement with Lazio (0-0), before which Napoli had suffered defeat from Inter in the Italian Super Cup final (0-1). What's more, the hosts failed to score in seven of their last 10 league games - the same number as the previous 59.Having earned second place in their Champions League group, the Partenopei will meet Barcelona in the 1/8 final. Napoli's squad still lacks the main goalkeeper Meret, the defenders Nathan and Olivera, and also the new signing Traoré - they are all currently in the infirmary. Moreover, the vital striker Osimhen (7 goals) is participating in the African Cup of Nations with the Nigerian national team – but midfielder Zambo Anguissa has already left the tournament with Cameroon and will likely start on Sunday. The good news: Kahuste, Kvaratskhelia (5 goals and 3 assists), and Simeone have served their suspensions. Napoli has signed defender Mazzocchi (Salernitana), midfielder Dendoncker (Aston Villa), and forwards Ngonge (Verona) and Traore (Bournemouth) this winter, while Elmas (Leipzig), Zanoli (Salernitana), Gaetano (Cagliari), and winger Zerbin (Monza) have left the club.

Verona

Verona managed to avoid relegation last season due to finishing 18th in the league and performing well in the playoffs, but the team continues to battle for survival and currently occupies 16th place in the Serie A standings, earning as many points as the team ranked just below, Cagliari. Marco Baroni's team has slightly improved their results recently: the guests won 2 out of the previous 6 matches, drawing once and losing three times. After being blasted 2:1 by Roma, the Mastiffs settled for a 1:1 draw against Frosinone a week ago, with Ondrej Duda failing to convert a penalty. A fact that will not please Verona fans: the yellow and white team has lost eight of their last 10 away games.

The coach Baroni does not have the injured goalkeeper Berardi at his disposal. Slovakian playmaker Suslov scored his debut goal in the Championship last weekend, so he will start this weekend. The winter transfer window has not been entirely successful for the team: the main forward Ngonge (Napoli), Doig (Sassuolo), Heien (Atalanta), Terracciano (Milan), Juric (Monza), Hongla (Granada) and Faraoni (Fiorentina), Mbula (Santander), and Amione (Santos Laguna) all left. In response, defenders Centonze (Nantes) and Ruben Vinagre (Sporting), wingers Noslin (Fortuna Sittard), Mitrovic (Red Star), Tavsan (NEC Nijmegen), forward Swiderski (Charlottetown) and midfielders Dani Silva (Guimaraes) and Belahjane (Nice) were brought in to compensate for these losses.

Head-to-head 

Napoli has lost only one of their last 13 matches with Verona in Serie A, winning nine times and scoring on average more than two goals per match.

Predictions for the Napoli - Verona match

Verona's team underwent significant changes during the January transfer window, while Napoli, on the other hand, can count on the returning leaders. In any case, the sky blues have already lost enough points on their home ground; sooner or later, the reigning Scudetto holders are bound to burst through. I don't expect a fight-back from the Mastiffs here and I’m betting on the hosts to win with a handicap of -1.